Cosplay

I've been keeping a sketchbook of Cosplay characters, usually based on images from the net, and sometimes straight from something I see on my daily walks.

London isn't Harajuku, although you'd be surprised at what you find at times.

London Shows

I've seen some good shows in the past month or so. Tate Britain had a comprehensive Francis Bacon show - his early paintings were the highlight - combining chance, technical virtuosity and oppressive images, creating nightmarish, unforgettable paintings.

Saatchi Gallery is currently showing New China Art presenting some strong figurative art by not so new Chinese artists. One painting in particular, Zhang Huan's Insects No.2 caught my eye. It was quirky, and somehow seductive (the creamy background?... the fact that it was covered in ants like some massive melting ice cream canvas...?), I don't know, I liked it.

I've also found a few of Antony Micallef's works. His earlier paintings/drawings were inspiring, I remember my dad cutting out a magazine article from a cafe as he knew I would appreciate his stuff, anyways, I caught a few of his black portraits at Lazarides, and saw his massive painting Parasite and a series of bronze nickel-plated sculptures at GSK gallery. Interesting to see what he does next.